TY - JOUR A1 - Chowdhary, S. A1 - Moschner, J. A1 - Mikolajczak, D. J. A1 - Becker, M. A1 - Thünemann, Andreas A1 - Kästner, Claudia A1 - Klemczak, D. A1 - Stegemann, A.-K. A1 - Böttcher, C. A1 - Metrangolo, P. A1 - Netz, R. R. A1 - Koksch, B. T1 - The Impact of Halogenated Phenylalanine Derivatives on NFGAIL Amyloid Formation N2 - The hexapeptide hIAPP22–27 (NFGAIL) is known as a crucial amyloid core sequence of the human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) whose aggregates can be used to better understand the wild‐type hIAPP′s toxicity to β‐cell death. In amyloid research, the role of hydrophobic and aromatic‐aromatic interactions as potential driving forces during the aggregation process is controversially discussed not only in case of NFGAIL, but also for amyloidogenic peptides in general. We have used halogenation of the aromatic residue as a strategy to modulate hydrophobic and aromatic‐aromatic interactions and prepared a library of NFGAIL variants containing fluorinated and iodinated phenylalanine analogues. We used thioflavin T staining, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) to study the impact of side‐chain halogenation on NFGAIL amyloid formation kinetics. Our data revealed a synergy between aggregation behavior and hydrophobicity of the phenylalanine residue. This study introduces systematic fluorination as a toolbox to further investigate the nature of the amyloid self‐assembly process. KW - Small-angle X-ray scattering KW - SAXS KW - Nanoparticle KW - Nanostructure KW - Peptide KW - Amyloid PY - 2020 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-518632 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202000373 VL - 21 IS - 24 SP - 3544 EP - 3554 PB - Wiley CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-51863 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Essmann, M. A1 - Becker, S. F. A1 - Witt, Julia A1 - Zhan, J. A1 - Chimeh, A. A1 - Korte, A. A1 - Zhong, J. A1 - Vogelgesang, R. A1 - Wittstock, G. A1 - Lienau, C. T1 - Vectorial near-field coupling N2 - The coherent exchange of optical near fields between two neighbouring dipoles plays an essential role in the optical properties, quantum dynamics and thus the function of many naturally occurring and artificial nanosystems. These interactions are challenging to quantify experimentally. They extend over only a few nanometres and depend sensitively on the detuning, dephasing and relative orientation (that is, the vectorial properties) of the coupled dipoles. Here, we introduce plasmonic nanofocusing spectroscopy to record coherent light scattering spectra with 5 nm spatial resolution from the apex of a conical gold nanotaper. The apex is excited solely by evanescent fields and coupled to plasmon resonances in a single gold nanorod. We resolve resonance energy shifts and line broadenings as a function of dipole distance and relative orientation. We demonstrate how These phenomena arise from mode couplings between different vectorial components of the interacting optical near fields, specifically from the coupling of the nanorod to both transverse and longitudinal polarizabilities of the taper apex. KW - Plasmon resonance KW - Coherent exchange KW - Optical near field KW - Plasmonic nanofocusing spectroscopy PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-019-0441-y SN - 1748-3387 VL - 14 IS - 7 SP - 698 EP - 704 PB - Nature AN - OPUS4-48028 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kulla, Hannes A1 - Becker, C. A1 - Michalchuk, Adam A1 - Linberg, Kevin A1 - Paulus, B. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Tuning the Apparent Stability of Polymorphic Cocrystals through Mechanochemistry N2 - Mechanochemistry has become a valuable method for the synthesis of new materials and molecules, with a particular strength for screening and preparing multicomponent crystals. In this work, two novel cocrystals of pyrazinamide (PZA) with pimelic acid (PA) were prepared mechanochemically. Their formation was monitored in real time by in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. Control over the polymorphic form was obtained through the selective choice of liquid additive via liquid assisted grinding. Slurry experiments and dispersion-corrected density functional theory calculations suggest that Form I is the thermodynamically stable form under ambient conditions. Upon aging, Form II converts to Form I. The stability of Form II upon aging was found to depend strongly on the milling duration, intensity, and material of the milling vessels. Longer or higher energy milling drastically increased the lifetime of the Form II product. For the first time, this work also demonstrates that the choice of milling jar can have a decisive effect on the aging stability of a bulk polymorphic powder. In contrast to material prepared in steel milling vessels, the preparation of Form II in Perspex (PMMA) vessels increased its lifetime 3-fold. These findings offer a new dimension to garnering control over mechanochemical cocrystallization and demonstrate the critical importance of the careful and timely ex situ screening of ball mill grinding reactions. This will be of importance for potential industrial applications of mechanochemical cocrystallization where understanding polymorph longevity is crucial for the development of a robust preparative protocol. KW - Physical and chemical processes KW - Organic compounds KW - Liquids KW - Materials KW - Stability PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.cgd.9b01158 VL - 19 IS - 12 SP - 7271 EP - 7279 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-50281 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zeleny, R. A1 - Voorspoels, S. A1 - Ricci, M. A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Jung, Christian A1 - Bremser, Wolfram A1 - Sittidech, M. A1 - Panyawathanakit, N. A1 - Wong, W. F. A1 - Choi, S.M. A1 - Lo, K.C. A1 - Yeung, W. Y. A1 - Kim, D.H. A1 - Han, J. A1 - Ryu, J. A1 - Mingwu, S. A1 - Chao, W. A1 - Schantz, M.M. A1 - Lippa, K.A. A1 - Matsuyama, S. T1 - Evaluation of the state-of-the-art measurement capabilities for selected PBDEs and decaBB in plastic by the international intercomparison CCQM-P114 N2 - An international intercomparison involving eight national metrology institutes (NMIs) was conducted to establish their current measurement capabilities for determining five selected congeners from the brominated flame retardant classes polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polybrominated biphenyls. A candidate reference material consisting of polypropylene fortified with technical mixtures of penta-, octa- and decabromo diphenyl ether and decabromo biphenyl, which was thoroughly assessed for material homogeneity and stability, was used as study material. The analytical procedures applied by the participants differed with regard to sample pre-treatment, extraction, clean-up, employed calibrants and type of calibration procedure as well as regarding analytical methods used for separation, identification and quantification of the flame retardant congeners (gas chromatography coupled to an electron capture detector (GC-ECD), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the electron ionisation mode (GC-EI-MS), gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the electron capture negative ionisation mode (GC-ECNI-MS), and liquid chromatography-inductive coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LC-ICP-MS)). The laboratory means agreed well with relative standard deviations of the mean of means of 1.9%, 4.8%, 5.5% and 5.4% for brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) 47, 183 and 209 and for the brominated biphenyl (BB) congener 209, respectively. For BDE 206, a relative standard deviation of 28.5% was obtained. For all five congeners, within-laboratory relative standard deviations of six measurements obtained under intermediate precision conditions were between 1% and 10%, and reported expanded measurements uncertainties typically ranged from 4% to 10% (8% to 14% for BDE 206). Furthermore, the results are in good agreement with those obtained in the characterization exercise for determining certified values for the flame retardant congeners in the same material. The results demonstrate the state-of-the-art measurement capabilities of NMIs for quantifying representative BDE congeners and BB 209 in a polymer. The outcome of this intercomparison (pilot study) in conjunction with possible improvements for employing exclusively calibrants with thoroughly assessed purity suggests that a key comparison aiming at underpinning calibration and measurement capability (CMC) claims of NMIs can be conducted. KW - Flame retardants KW - Polymer KW - Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) KW - Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) KW - International intercomparison PY - 2010 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-009-3314-7 SN - 1618-2642 SN - 1618-2650 VL - 396 IS - 4 SP - 1501 EP - 1511 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-22905 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -